Shipping documents are widely used by distribution warehouses, organizations and carriers to accompany delivery packages. Shipping documents typically include shipping labels and packing slips or shipping lists. Shipping labels are generally identification labels affixed to the shipping container to provide originating and destination information, as well as other non-confidential and useful information required by transport or carrier companies, customs and other government authorities, customers, etc. Packing slips and shipping lists provide information about the contents of the shipping container, often including information regarding the content, courier, warranty, control marks, operation, invoices, messages, drawings, destination address, optical tracing information, transponder, reference number and/or other pertinent information.
Current methods of creating and affixing shipping documents (such as shipping labels and packing slips) to a shipping container (such as a carton, envelope, container or other item) generally employ an adhesive envelope or pouch as a means of carrying the shipping documents. For example, the packing slip is often sealed in a clear plastic pouch and affixed to the exterior of the shipping container. Adhesives are used to affix the pouch to the shipping container, typically pre-applied pressure sensitive adhesives that are covered by a removable protecting strip or “release layer”, such that when the release layer is removed the pouch can be adhered to the shipping container by the application of pressure along the adhesive-bearing portion of the pouch.
The packing slip is typically folded in a manner which hides confidential information or other information that is not necessary to the shipping of the container, for example the contents of the container, and inserted in the pouch, through a slit formed in the pouch that can be sealed either independently or as the pouch is adhered to the container. Upon receiving the container the recipient accesses the interior of the pouch and its contents by removing a tear strip or the like from the face of the pouch. While the shipping documents are sealed in the pouch, only information necessary for the shipping of the container is visible, such as the shipping label.
Distribution warehouses, organizations and carriers who fill orders for goods may employ manual processes, or partially or fully automated processes, to create and affix shipping documents to a shipping container, using for example the conventional shipping pouch described above. However, a shipping document constituted by a single sheet of printable material which includes both the shipping label and the packing slip is desirable, as it reduces the amount of paper used and facilitates creation because the shipping documents can be printed by a single pass through a conventional printer. However, automated systems currently employed to create and affix such shipping documents are very slow, averaging a rate of about 15 shipping containers per minute. With growing e-commerce activity, the demands are higher than ever and industry requires significantly higher rates in order to prevent bottlenecks and meet delivery timelines.
Another option is to employ a thermal print technology to print the packing list on the rear face of the shipping label, which is then applied to the shipping container. This option is also slow, and creates a further problem for the end user recipient because the shipping label is typically a small piece of paper, which makes the packing list difficult both to read and to file. As most businesses are accustomed to using letter size paper or legal size paper, the recipient of smaller packing lists will often take the additional step of photocopying the small packing list in order to record it on a larger sheet of paper for filing, which is time consuming and uses additional paper.